UFSW Hunger Games/Issue 2
This is of Issue #2 of the UFSW Hunger Games Issue 2 Conner stares at the note in his hand, re-reading it over again in his confusion. He’s only knocked out of his daze when he hears the screech of a familiar voice. “Conner!” Ash yells, sprinting through the ruined park towards Conner, happier than ever to see the man. As the boy impulsively tackles him with a hug, Conner notices he has an identical piece of paper in his hand. “Did you read it?” Ash asks. “Y-yeah. I--I don’t know what to make of it, maybe it’s a...I dunno. I don’t even know where we are,” Conner stammers. Ash suddenly looks to his left and points at a white structure with a pointed top looming in the distance. “I--I’ve seen that before. My dad, he was flipping through this book once. I don’t know what it’s called,” Ash says. “The Washington Monument...” Conner says in awe. “We’re in fucking Washington D.C?” “Let’s just go,” Ash suggests, tugging once on Conner’s sleeve. “No, no. The note said--you read it, you know what it said. We die if we leave here.” Before Ash can respond, Kim Coleman’s voice echoes throughout the park as she calls for the two familiar figures. “Ash! Conner!” she yells, waving her hands to get their attention. She stops, out of breath, when she finally gets near them, and shakes the note at them. “What the hell is this?” “Like I fuckin’ know,” Conner says. “Look, let’s just stick together, that’s the best plan. If there’s...45 other people here, and fuckin’ walkers, I’m not happy being out in the open like this. Come on.” ---- Grimm sits on the cold, hard floor of a derailed subway train, a single dim light dangling in the otherwise dark tunnel. He rereads the mysterious note in his hands, a small smile of amusement forming on his face. Him against 47 others. Shouldn't be too hard; not for him, anyway. He stands and wipes the dust off of his pants; he takes a few minutes to stretch, since the hard floor didn't do his back any favors. But in the middle of his stretch, he hears a growl from behind him, proof that the note wasn't lying about the zombies being just as big of a threat. He turns his head and sees the train car behind him filled to the brim with infected, and they push past the unhinged doors into his car, a few also climbing up from the tracks. With no weapons in sight, he sprints in the opposite direction, towards the train car in front of him. He hops from one car to the next with ease, laughing as he does so, amused at his slick getaway. But when he hops to the third car, he feels a tug on his leg, and he falls to the car's metal floor face first. All the wind is knocked out of his lungs, but he wastes no time turning into his back; he's instantly face to face with the zombie latched onto his ankle and its undead buddies behind him. "Oh, fuck," he mutters, giving it a kick to the face. "Get--the fuck--off of me!" he shouts in between kicks, and the last kick causes its jaw to fall clean off its face. With no other options in sight, Grimm reaches forward and grabs the zombie by the head; he smashes its face--once, twice, then three times--into the floor until its completely motionless, its face nothing but a pulpy mess of brain and rotten skull. He rips his foot from its grasp and scurries to his feet, speeding once again through the train cars and escaping the rest of the zombies. ---- "Let's cut through here," Ash suggests in front of the subway entrance. He, Conner, and Kim glance behind them at a large herd of zombies at the horizon. "We don't know what's down there," Kim says. "We obviously can't go that way," Ash says, gesturing to the herd. They look to Conner to be the mediator, but even he's conflicted. "No," Conner says finally. "Too dangerous." "And the bell's coming from that direction," Ash adds, and despite Conner's protests, he descends the steps to the entrance. "Ash!" Conner and Kim both shout, but he continues on until he disappears behind the doors. "Come on!" Ash calls to them. ---- Hoping tO escape the zombies proves not to be a realistic goal, as Grimm still attempts to outrun them through the dark subway tunnels. He covers his nose with his tank top to block out the smell, and he wipes his forehead free of sweat. After a few minutes, he hears a yell that echoes through the tunnel. "Ash! Slow down!" Grimm hears a man yell, and Grimm stops in his tracks in surprise, despite the zombies pursuing him about fifty meters away. "I'm right here! Hey--I think I know where--" Ash calls out, but then he turns a corner and is face to face with Grimm. Ash backs up nervously, Grimm's appearance instantly intimidating him: the shaved head, the tattoos. "Hey, kid," Grimm says. "I'm good--I'm a good guy. Help me get outta here." "What--I don't know how to get out of here." "We'll work together. Yeah, we'll get out of together." Grimm reaches his hand out to Ash, expecting the kid to take it. "No. No, I have people with me already. You can join us." Grimm sighs, remembers the 47 others he has to take out, and trying to even the score now will be for his benefit. Even if he has to kill a kid. So without warning, he grabs Ash by the arm. Ash immediately screams out for Conner, but Grimm covers his mouth with his hand. "Shut up," Grimm orders. "Ash! What's wrong? Where are you?" Kim shouts. "Sorry about this, kid," Grimm says, and he drags Ash by the arm toward the zombies rushing toward them. "No! Please--Kim! Conner!" Ash pleads wildly, the volume of his screams escalating as Grimm tosees him to the undead, and he eventually goes silent. Not wanting to take the risk of dealing with two adults, Grimm sprints past the zombies as they focus on Ash, intent on getting away. "Ash, what the hell--" Conner begins, but then he turns the corner and sees what he wishes he would never have to, and collapses onto his knees. ---- Rick Trombotta paces around the barren, empty room he's just woken up in. The note lies on the floor, crumpled up, and he scratches his head in confusion. "I can't--how am I gonna kill 47 fuckin' people? Holy shit," he mutters to himself. "Got my shoes all fuckin' dusty..." "Okay, Rick, okay. It ain't gonna be that bad. Can't be that bad. Somebody's playin' a little...practical joke on ya, that's all it is," he continues. He thinks of something to do but he draws a blank, the stress and sheer unbelievability of the situation tears at his mind. "Okay. How about we just...open this damn door first? Okay, sounds good." He takes a deep breath and opens the door, which leads to a dark hallway with floorboards that creak with his every step. He cringes at all the noise he's making, but freezes in place when he hears similar creaks coming from around the corner of the corridor. He contemplates making his presence known but eventually says, "H-hey. Who is that--who's there? I'll--I'm not gonna go easy on you, unless ya tell me who you are. And ya can't have any weapons, no way." "I'm not armed," an oddly familar, feminine voice replies. "Are you--are you fuckin' serious?" Rick mutters as a young blonde woman turns the corner, gripping a rusty pipe and ready to strike. He remembers her, the girl his crazy fucking boss Mr. Burrough kept in his mansion after showing a lot of...interest in her. After getting out of there and leaving with his friend, Vinnie, he never expected to see her again. And she could say the same for him--seeing his face is one big surprise after parting ways. "It's you. That girl," Rick says. Then he snatches the pipe from her. "And gimme that thing. Not armed, my ass." "Hi. Again," she says. "Did you get the note?" "I got the note. We're sticking together." "Yeah? And who the hell decided that?" "Unless you want to head out there alone..." Nina says, shrugging. "Okay. Whatever. But I'm keepin' the pipe," Rick says, but Nina doesn't respond. She's staring intently behind him into the darkness. He turns to see what she's looking at, but can't detect anything out of the ordinary. "Hear that?" she whispers. "Wha--no. No, what is it?" he asks, and Nina tugs him by the sleeve, running in the opposite direction just as a door at the end of the hall bursts open, and a brown haired man sprints out. His eyes widen at the sight of them, but he doesn't stop running. "There's a shit ton of walkers back there, so I suggest you move!" the man yells as he rushes past them. Rick and Nina hesitate but, they follow. As the man leads them to a stairwell, Nina glances out the window, and sees how high up they are. "We have to be...at least ten stories up," she says between breaths, bounding down the stairs. "Yeah," the man says. "Elevators are busted. That whole side of the building is filled with walkers." "Wait, hold on," Rick says. "Who the hell are you?" "Liam. You?" "Rick." "Nina." "Not the best introduction, but nice to meet--ah, shit," Liam says, and he stops suddenly, Rick and Nina nearly running into him. He stares at an enormous group of infected climbing over each other to ascend the stairs. "Back up, back up!" he shouts, turning the opposite direction and up the stairs. Nina freezes in place, staring at them, her eyes burning with fear. Before she's grabbed, Rick yells her name and yanks her by the arm, effectively knocking her out of her daze. "Damn it, what's wrong with you?" Rick shouts. "Nothing--let's just go!" she says, following Liam. But their fate going up the stairs seems to be the same, because the group of walkers from before that followed Liam bursts out onto the stairwell. Liam stops so suddenly he slips and falls onto his back. His first instinct is to kick, and he hits the first walker in the knee, breaking off the bottom half of its leg. Rick quickly pulls him to his feet, and as he does, Liam snatches the pipe from him. "Get the door open!" Liam orders, nodding his head toward the door leading to the ninth floor. He swings the pipe, hitting a walker right between the eyes. He grunts as he pulls out the weapon, wasting no time smacking another one across the jaw, and another in the chin. He's forced to back up as they close on him, and Nina and Rick work on busting down the locked door. "Go-go help him!" Rick orders, but she shakes her head feverently. "No, no I can't. I'll just--" she says. "You can't get it open yourself! Fuck it, just fuck it." He rushes to Liam's aid, leaving Nina to try and open the door herself. Rick homes in on a walker ready to latch onto Liam and grabs it by the neck, tossing its body recklessly into the stairwell wall, its head making a bloody mess on the concrete. He takes another and throws it to the ground; he stomps on its head until the skull cracks with ease. "We can't--God dammit!" Liam shouts as he feels teeth lock onto his shoulder, and the meat being ripped out. Rick watches in horror as another walker rips a piece from Liam's neck, and he's quickly overwhelmed. "You need--you need to help me!" Nina calls to him, hitting the door with her shoulder. He swallows hard, kicks an oncoming walker in the gut, and has no choice but to go to her aid. "Buy me time!" Rick says, but it's obvious she won't. Her fear for those things is too great. So Rick summons everything he has and rams the door with his shoulder again, and it flies open. He exits onto the ninth floor with Nina, and slams the door shut behind him, just in time. ---- Jess walks through the tall grass of an abandoned park, the sun beating down on her. She hasn't seen a soul the entire time since she's woken up. The rules are so simple--kill anyone you see--but the entire situation is so confusing. Where is she? Why her? She shakes her head and wipes some sweat from her forehead, and her heart stops in her chest as she hears someone call out to her. She turns slowly, afraid of being unarmed, and sees a distressed woman running toward her. She's pretty, with brown hair, and she looks just as tired as Jess feels. "A person. Finally," the woman says. "Who are you?" Jess asks immediately. The woman can sense her hostility and distrust for her, so she backs up a few steps. "I'm Leigh," the woman says. Jess eyes her before saying, "I'm Jess." “Jess...I know we just met, and this whole situation doesn’t make any sense, but I’d really prefer if I didn’t have to go at this alone.” Leigh holds her hand out to Jess, expecting a shake, but Jess denies it. “I don’t know you,” Jess says. “And we’re supposed to kill each other, apparently.” “This is all a stupid fucking game. We don’t have to kill each other. What’s the worst that could happen if we don’t?” Jess takes a few seconds to think about this and her chances of surviving this on her own. And from what she can tell, they’re probably not very high. “And I have an idea of where we can go. The bell, you hear it?” Leigh continues, and Jess nods, listening to the faint ringing of what sounds like a church bell. “I have a pretty good idea of where it is. What do you say?” “I--” Jess starts, then she stops, changing her mind about what she wants to say at the last moment. “It’s good to see a friendly face.” Leigh smiles, and they walk side by side through the grass, toward the bells. In the distance, Jess spots a herd stomping in their direction. Jess stops in her tracks, deciding whether they should take another route. “You think we should--” Jess begins, turning to Leigh, but then she feels something sharp penetrate her stomach. She looks down, and Leigh pulls out a rusty metal shard she found in the ruins of the park just a few moments before spotting Jess. “What--” Jess says, but her words are caught in her throat. “I’m really sorry,” Leigh says monotonously. Jess stares at her in shock, clutching her stomach tightly, but the blood flows freely through her fingers. Leigh then grips the bloodied shard and stabs Jess directly under the chin. Jess hits the ground, attempting to scream in agony but not able to as the blood fills her mouth. Leigh pockets the shard, and walks in the opposite direction, away from the herd and away from Jess’s dying body. ---- Mark Jones traverses the streets of Washington D.C. with Barbara and James at his side. The streets are completely destroyed, with overturned cars and burning buildings and the occasional zombie to take out with a small pocket knife he found in one of the cars. “Is that it?” Barbara asks, pointing to an extremely large grassy area and a church looming over it. In the center of the area a mess of weapons and supplies lie, already having been scoured through. A few people still search through them, oblivious to their presence. “Yeah. I think so,” Mark says. “We gotta get over there. Grab some of the weapons,” James says “They look...normal. Maybe we should try to talk to them,” Barbara suggests. “No. No, we’re not doing that. We can forfeit the weapons for now and come back later," Mark says. “But they’ll be all gone by then. There’s 48 of us here, Mark,” James says. “We have weapons. If you need some,” says a voice from behind them. The three turn quickly, and they’re met with the frightened faces of three others. A young girl, an older man, and a red headed man. “We’re not hostile, if that’s what you’re thinking,” the red headed man says, and his accent is unfamiliar. Somewhere from the UK. Mark thinks it might be Scottish. “And we’ve got weapons,” the young girl says, slightly lifting the one-strapped bad around her shoulder. She eyes all three of them nervously, not really wanting to team up with strangers but knowing they’ll have to if she wants to survive. “We’re good people,” the old man says. “I’m Geary, the girl is Lia, and this is Ridley. And if you haven’t attacked us yet, I’d say you’re friendly.” “We just want to get through this,” Mark says. “So do we,” Ridley says. “And if you’ve got our backs, I’d say we’re inclined to have yours, don’t you think? And you’ll get some guns out of it. Not a bad deal.” Mark looks to James and Barbara, but they look just as conflicted as he does. But they need any weapons they can acquire, and these people don’t seem too bad. Especially with an old guy and a teenage girl. “Okay,” Mark says, and Ridley notes that he seems to be the leader of the group. “We can stick together. But we need to--” He stops speaking when he hears a gunshot, and then a bullet fly through the back of Barbara’s head; it goes clean through, and before it stops, Lia, who was standing in front of Barbara, is hit directly in the forehead. Their bodies both hit the street, and the four men and are left staring at their bodies with their mouths agape. “Oh, fuck...” Ridley says. “We’ve got no time to stay here!” He hesitates, looking down at Lia’s body sadly, but bends down to take her bag, tossing it over his shoulders afterward. Mark and James are barely out of their shock when another gunshot is fired, hitting a car to Mark’s left. Geary and Ridley have already cut into an alleyway, and Mark and James follow their lead as the mysterious gunman fires one last shot. Deaths *Ash from Extinction *Liam from Apocalypse Life *Jess from Peter's Journey *Barbara from No Hope *Lia Camper from Hope On The Rocks Category:UFSW Hunger Games Category:UFSW Hunger Games Issues Category:Issues